Tenchi Forever

Director
Hiroshi Negishi
Production
AIC, Pioneer
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Film
Running time
95 mins
Year
1999

Tenchi Forever

By Eric
23rd May 04

This is a movie that stands out as the black sheep of the Tenchi saga. It's the dissident. This is not the funny, light-hearted Tenchi you're used to. This movie is very sad at times. I think the main goal of this film was to show the Tenchi fans that the love both Ryoko and Ayeka feel is real. It's not a crush, they would do anything for him.

Tenchi touches a Jurain tree that has been calling out to him one day, and he is sucked into a fantasy world, missing for six months. His kidnapper is the spirit of Tenchi's grandfather's first love, Haruna, who died on her way to Earth with him. She was so unwilling to admit that she didn't get to live her dream life on Earth that she created her own world and took Tenchi to live in it as her love. She just doesn't want to let go of the dream...Naturally, after Ryoko and Ayeka find out they do everything they can to make Tenchi (whose dream self is grown up thanks to Haruna's desires) wake up from the dream world and come back into the real world.

Haruna isn't like other anime villains. She is not violent or cruel or mean. She's actually very sweet. Her only problem is that she doesn't want to let her dream go, and she'd put Tenchi at risk to live it out. How? Well, I can't tell you...it'd be a spoiler. You want Ryoko and Ayeka to rescue him, but you also feel empathy for Haruna's sorrow. She's not a bad person, just confused.

Like I said before, this isn't meant to be a funny or action-packed movie. It's a deep look into Tenchi, Ayeka, and Ryoko. It's the final proof that the desperate love the girls both have for him ultimately overcomes their competition with one another. Sure, they fight, but deep down they want what Tenchi wants, even if it isn't really them.

8/10

-- Eric 23rd May 04

Tenchi Forever Images